We’ve just driven a plug-in electric pickup truck that you may soon be able to rent from your local Ryder outlet. Workhorse Group has announced that Ryder, the commercial truck-rental company, will be its strategic sales and service partner, via all 800 of its locations, not only for Workhorse’s larger medium-duty, range-extended electric commercial trucks but for its upcoming light-duty pickup, the W-15. It?s a big step toward what Workhorse seeks: success in the fleet market with a pickup suited for local utility, construction, or delivery work, operating most of the time without tailpipe emissions.
Workhorse CEO Steve Burns thinks his firm stands a better chance than other electric-vehicle upstarts for several reasons. One is the sheer economics of it: Fleet buyers look at a 20-year picture for operating costs, he says. That includes public utilities, from which Workhorse has already seen interest and taken orders. Workhorse anticipates that for those keeping inside the 80-mile range of the W-15?s all-electric driving mode, the truck will earn back its premium in just two years. The company projects that over 20 years, a single such truck will save a commercial fleet operator $170,000.
?We?re going to cost a little bit more [for the initial purchase], but if we can show they?ll make up that cost quickly, we?ll win over a lot of fleet managers,? Burns says. We’d peg that entry price at about $50,000.
Another argument Burns presents is that Workhorse is...